Cyber attacks: Hackers don’t discriminate on size

PUBLISHED: 15:18 01 June 2017

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Over the last few years, the frequency of cyber crimes has increased dramatically. In fact you are now about 25 times more likely to be a victim of fraud via a computer than robbed on the street. Despite this fact, about 50% of UK companies are unprepared for a cyber attack, according to government figures. Jelf Insurance Brokers has put together some valuable insights and tips to help protect your business against hackers

Nine out of ten UK small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) have no cyber insurance in place. This lack of robust security has granted free rein to cyber criminals – in 2015, UK businesses lost an estimated £1 billion to online crime, according to Get Safe Online and Action Fraud.

It can be easy to fall into the trap of believing your business isn’t big enough or high profile enough to be targeted but unfortunately that isn’t the case. SME’s are being viewed as a easy route into the larger businesses they contract with as they often have lower security measures in place.

The fact that 28% of SMEs say they would go out of business if faced with an unexpected bill of £50,000 helps illustrate the problem. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the average cost of a small business’ cyber security breach is £75,000-£310,000 — well above the £50,000 that would put more than one-quarter of SMEs out of business.

Having the necessary cyber security protection in place is only going to increase in importance due to the new European General Data Protection regulations, aimed at protecting customer data, which come into force in 2018. These regulations could result in companies being fined up to 4% of their annual turnover for allowing any security breaches to compromise their customer data.

Forewarned is forearmed

As with many things it is best to be prepared.

1. Provide annual cyber security training for your entire staff—from interns all the way up to directors and officers.

2. Remain up to date on cyber security trends, which should include both new cyber security threats and cyber defence software.

3. Install anti-virus, spyware and malware detection software on all company computers as well as employees’ mobile devices.

4. Develop a written incident response plan, which should include what the procedure is in the event of a cyber security breach.

5. Review your insurance policies to check whether your business is covered in the event of a cyber attack.

When it comes to cyber attacks size doesn’t really seem to matter. It therefore makes sense to put in place the necessary measures to protect your company from reputational damage, loss of customer data, fines and potential loss of business.

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Jelf is a trading name of Jelf Insurance Brokers Ltd (Reg No. 0837227) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Registered address: Hillside Court, Bowling Hill, Chipping Sodbury, Bristol BS37 6JX (Registered in England and Wales). Not all products and services offered are regulated by the FCA. JIB017.01.17